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Moving to Newport, RI Area

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#1 ·
I just found out we're moving. I'm a midwest girl, although i did live in New Bedford, MAss for almost a year 3 years ago. I am wondering if someone can help me figure out the area, we're going to be looking for housing, whats goo whats bad and what's affordable? We probably can not live in Newport, to much $$$, but are there some nicer, not too expensive places to live outside or newport?

And are their some natural minded parents that live around here? There has to be, I'm so scared that I'm not going to find anyone who nurses, uses cloth or babywears, I don't want to be alone!!!!!! If your out there atleast say hi!, even if you can't help me with the housing part! I don't like moving across the country and this is going to be a fast one!, DH starts his job in a week!!! We have a house to sell here, so I'll lag behind, but it's still going to be quick!

Thanks!!!
 
#2 ·
WELCOME Erin! I just moved here from North Carolina. We are originally from here and coming home to stay finally. I'm in North Kingstown. I have to say that Newport is REALLY expensive, as is Jamestown and East Greenwich and North Kingstown. We are right over the bridges here in North Kingstown. But South County is a little cheaper(South Kingstown, Wakefield, Charlestown, etc.). The entire state is pretty expensive in my opinion. I just wanted you to know that there is another natural minded mama out there. YOu aren't alone! I am Megan and I'm 25. I have two daughters, Madyson who is 5 and Sara who is 15months. Sara is still breastfed and in cloth diapers and is worn constantly in our Maya Wrap. We are in NOrth Kingstown staying at my MIL"s house until my husband gets up here. He's active duty Air Force and we are separating from the military to move back up here. He's finishing up the paperwork and will be up here the beginning of June.
Welcome to RI! I might be biased because I grew up here but I've been all up and down the East Coast and it's a pretty nice place to live, especially in the summer. You'll love all the things to do near the beaches. And Whole Foods is only 30 minutes from where I am. Good place to find other like-minded moms!

Meg
 
#3 ·
Hi Meg!! How are ya? I'm obviously very nervous! Are the south counties good areas? When I moved to New Bedford my Ex husband picked out the worst apartment in the worse neighborhood, not that I think DH would do that, I'm just scared of moving somewhere i don't know very well!

It is glad to know there are some mamas like me out there. I'm 27 and my boy is 6 and my girl is almost 8 months. We are giong to be lagging behind DH, I want DS to finish school here before we move.

Any local info you can give I will gladly take!!! THank you so much!
 
#4 ·


Another bf-ing (soon to be tandem-ing
), cloth-diapering mama here!

There are lots of Mothering-type mamas around here! We have two new chapters of Holistic Moms Network in RI. And I started a Birth Network last year. Our last meeting was all about cloth diapering and Elimination Communication. There are also great LLL groups around!


I'm in South County and I love it here! Fortunately...almost everyting is comutable in RI. I used to work in Newport and it was about a 35-40 min ride for me. Unfortunately, housing prices are pretty out of control all over the state.

I have a few friends who live in the Warwick/Cranston area. That seems to be still relatively affordable. I think Wakefield, which is in South Kingstown, is great and there seems to be at least some affordable houses around there.

Good luck!!

~Erin
 
#5 ·
South Country is great...They have great schools and LOTS of like minded moms.
Cranston is a good place to live and I recommend these following areas of Cranston: Edgewood (right on the bay); Auburn; Garden City area.
Cranston is not near Newport though.

Have you looked on the Providence Craigslist for housing? You can at least get an idea of prices from there.

Best of luck!!
Liz
Ps. Although I am from RI, I am living in MA right now.
 
#6 ·
Providence is sorta a tough bet for housing. I mean, personally I would have to actually SEE the place and hte area to feel comfortable because there are some parts of Providence that I wouldn't let a dog live in, much less a child! But South County is great, truly. Wakefield is BEAUTIFUL. We are actually looking for a place down there right now. The only issue would be beach traffic but depending on where you live, that might or mmight not be a problem and it's only for 2 or 3 months out of the year. Kind of a trade-off in my opinion.
That's tough to have one parent already in the new house and one lagging behind. It's tough on the kids. Believe me, I know. I'm going through it right now. My DH is the one lagging behind and I"m already up here with the kids.
Could you maybe give DH a list of what you want in a house or apartment so that he picks something good? Everything is within reach in a state this small for the most part(re: LLL meetings or children's museums or whatever) but maybe you want to be within walking distance of the grocery store or a playground or a park. Let him know what your requirements are and what he has to work with. When my husband found our apartment in North Carolina he was told specifically that it needed a yard and anything else I could live with(within reason!
). Now our requirements have changed. I'm heading back to work so we need to be within decent driving distance of a good daycare and in a decent school district for older dd and HOPEFULLY near my work too. We'd LIKE to find a place near a playground or wiht a yard but it's more important to not spend an hour in the car one way to daycare and school and work, ya know?

Meg
 
#7 ·
I live in Warren, RI - lots of rentals in our area. Try http://classifieds.eastbayri.com/classified_index.php We found our last rental through them and there looks to be a lot of rentals. (Just don't rent from my particular landlord - they are not kid friendly one bit!)

Other than my crappy landlord situation, I've really enjoyed living in this location.

That said, we're packing it up next month and moving to North Kingstown...
 
#8 ·
I live in Exeter and love it. It is a very quiet town, the houses have privacy and there are some affordable houses to be found. My husband commutes to Newport daily, about 25 minutes. We have also lived in Smithfield. Tiverton and Jamestown, we love Exeter the most. If you like acerage and breathing space with little commercial development this is the place, granted I have a stocklpile of Parmalat in case we run out of milk
I have heard the public school is very good. The Waldorf school is 7 miles from us on one side and the Montessori school is 5 miles. Both are relatively affordable compared to private schools in Providence or Newport. We have met great open minded friends at the Unitarian Church in Newport also. Good luck moving!
 
#9 ·
Thanks for all the info!!! I've been busy painting and unable to check back and see all this great stuff!! DH will be looking fr our apartment, he's good with stuff like that, our biggest bump will be the dog, we can't just get rid of him and it's harder to find places that allow them!! I'll check out the Exeter area, I would love to get my son back into a montessori school, not sure that I could afford it, but I can always try! I've also been looking for a good Unitarian church ~ is this one that teches all religons?? My son is very interested in going to church, I just believe in teaching all religions.

ANyway, I'm getting very nervous for this move an dhearing the good things your telling me makes me feel better. I hate that I must stay behind in the begining, but we have no choice, we bought this house a year ago and it's been nothing but problems and selling probably will be too! If we end up moving before selling I'm really hoping the DH's work puts us up, they do own a hotel, although then the dog would really have to go somewhere else for awhile.

Anyway, thanks again for the info! I'll let ya'll know what we find! Oh, I'm oing to be going to look around myself over labor day weekend too! That should help. My biggest fear really is that we won't be able to afford anything better than what I lived in when living in New Bedford, and that was awfull, so many drugs in the area!!
 
#10 ·
Quote:
I've also been looking for a good Unitarian church ~ is this one that teches all religons?? My son is very interested in going to church, I just believe in teaching all religions.
And you're in luck! There are several! We belong to the one in South County and LOVE it. There are also really nice congregations in East Greenwich, Providence and Newport!!!


RI Congregations
 
#11 ·
I lived in New Bedford. Ugh, it was horrible. Rents are cheap in New Bedford but I wouldn't want to live THERE again.

Have you looked on Providence Craigslist to get an idea of housing prices?
It's definitely more expensive than New Bedford but South County really is lovely.
 
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